| SURTECO SE complies in the main with the recommendations of the Germany Corporate Governance Code. If there are any deviations from the recommendations, we explain these pursuant to section 3.10 of the Code as follows:
1. A Nomination Committee of the Supervisory Board has not yet been set up, because there is currently no requirement for this in view of the size of the Supervisory Board and the existing shareholder structure (deviation in accordance with part I section 1 and part II section 1 of the Declaration of Compliance).
2. Elections to the Supervisory Board at SURTECO are only carried out on the basis of an individual vote, if a shareholder requests this procedure at the Annual General Meeting (part I section 2 and part II section 2 of the Declaration of Compliance). Experiences in the past indicate that there is generally no requirement for an individual vote so that a collective vote is preferable as the default option compared with an individual vote and this enables business at the Annual General Meeting to proceed more quickly. An individual vote is carried out if a shareholder requests this at the Annual General Meeting. The rights of the shareholders are not compromised as a result.
3. Only the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board are recognized in the remuneration package for the Members of the Supervisory Board but not the chairman and members of the committees (part I section 3 and part II section 3 of the Declaration of Compliance). No additional remuneration was initially envisaged for participation in committees. In view of the additional work associated with the involvement of a Member of the Supervisory Board in the Audit Committee, the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management will discuss whether a change in the Articles of Association of SURTECO SE should be proposed at the next ordinary Annual General Meeting to the effect that the Members of the Supervisory Board should be paid a separate remuneration for holding the positions of member and chair of the Audit Committee.
4. Section 7.1.2 of the Code provides for publication of consolidated financial statements within 90 days of the end of the reporting period. This deadline has been extended to 120 days in the case of SURTECO, in order to permit continuation of internal operations for drawing up the annual financial statements and the consolidated financial statements. An information deficit is not incurred as a result, since the relevant figures are in any case available in good time for the ordinary Annual General Meeting. The corresponding deviation is in part I section 4 and part II section 4 of the Declaration of Compliance.
5. The deviation in accordance with part I section 5 and part II section 5 of the Declaration of Compliance (discussion of the half-yearly and quarterly financial reports only with the Chairman of the Audit Committee) corresponds with the previous practice at SURTECO which has proven effective in the opinion of the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management. The inclusion of the entire Audit Committee or even the Supervisory Board before each disclosure of interim reports would be associated with expenditure which would not be commensurate with a corresponding benefit. The Chairman of the Audit Committee is kept thoroughly informed about the details of the accounts of the company and is available as the contact for the Board of Management prior to publication of interim reports. The Chairman of the Audit Committee reports to the other members of the Audit Committee promptly in writing about the discussion of the interim report with the Board of Management in order to ensure that the other members of the committee are fully informed.
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